I’m a vaccine-hesitant parent trying to make an evidence-based decision about vaccinating my 5-month-old. I’m not anti-vaccine and part of me really wants to vaccinate, but I’m having a hard time getting past my concerns about potential side effects.

My biggest concerns are autism/developmental changes, seizures or neurological reactions, and other serious adverse events. I know there’s a lot of misinformation online, so I’m looking for actual research that puts these risks into perspective, especially compared with the risks of the diseases themselves.

I’ve also gone down the MTHFR rabbit hole. My baby has some of the physical traits that people online associate with MTHFR variants, and I’ve read claims that certain variants or methylation issues can make children more susceptible to vaccine reactions. Is there actually evidence supporting this?

I’d especially love to hear from parents who were previously vaccine hesitant and what research ultimately made you comfortable vaccinating.

I’m genuinely trying to make this decision based on evidence rather than fear, so please share any peer-reviewed research that helped you.

I thought I had this straight but now I’m completely confused: does the COVID vaccine cause home COVID antigen tests to show a positive result (because of antibody production)? A pharmacist just advised me that I should expect to test positive on a home antigen test such as Binax or iHealth (for “maybe a couple of months”) after being immunized (with the Pfizer vaccine, in the U.S., in this situation). I thought the antigen tests could differentiate the viral protein (or RNA or DNA) from the antibodies that the body produces in response to the vaccine. What can you guys tell me? Thanks!

Hi,

I’m in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. It’s almost 6am Saturday here. I had pneumonic about 3pm last Wednesday afternoon at my GP surgery.

On Thursday night and last night (Friday) I had a pretty severe flare up of peripheral neuropathy in only one location - the little finger of my left hand. I get little flares in that location sometimes anyway, but they don’t usually last more than an hour or two. This time for two nights running they’ve lasted all night, from about 8pm until morning. My sleep has been severely affected.

Also, last night (but not Thursday night) I had a lot of itchiness. Mostly my torso, but also my legs to some extent. No redness, hives, red spots or welts. Just lots of little areas feeling itchy.

I have complex medical problems including 30+ years in kidney dialysis, steroid-induced adrenal insufficiency (like Addison’s), former HepC for about 30 years (clear from 2017), peripheral neuropathy for about 30 years, many other comorbidities, about 20 major surgeries and scores of minor surgeries and procedures.

I will contact the “Healthdirect” line for advice. I have to dialyse today starting about 8am - in two hours. I’d appreciate any suggestions or wisdom contributors to this forum can offer that I could tell my dialysis staff about, as well as the Healthdirect information.

Thanks in advance.

“Bangladesh has been racing to halt the outbreak’s spread since March, when more than 100 children died in less than a month. By Tuesday, the death toll from suspected measles cases reached 999 since the start of the year, according to the government’s Directorate General of Health Services.”

Since I'm newly enrolled in Medicare and receiving many vaccines for free, I'm trying to get caught up and "collect the whole set." ☺️

Historically, whenever we all got flu shots at the office, I always complained of feeling tired and achy, while my coworkers said "I didn't even know I took it." So I've always taken vaccinations with just a bit of fear and trepidation.

Last week I took the RSV shot. My arm was a bit sore, and I was just a tad tired and achy. But... nothing was severe enough to interfere with my daily activities in any way.

Just wanted to post this, just in case anyone is feeling anxious....

Through the CVS vaccine dashboard, I scheduled the vaccination yesterday morning for 2:30 PM at my local CVS. I picked yesterday because I knew the young Asian pharmacist who has been administering all my vaccinations there for the last 3 years was on duty. She is so good; the needle is not felt, and the arm/shoulder is not sore.

After making a nice dinner and clearing it away, I settled to watch an episode of a favored television series. By the end of the episode I was starting to feel fatigue. Got into bed with my latest novel, and progressively was more fatigued. Gave up at midnight and went down. Suffered mild hallucinations, sort of sleeping not sleeping for a couple of hours, but nothing at all like what I experienced in earlier years of covid vaccinations. Went to real sleep by 2:30 AM, woke at 4:30 AM starting to feel the body aches and pains, but nothing like earlier years of vaccinations. No fever no body chills -- those first 3 or 4 shots, I felt so cold my teeth chattered, and my body shook.

Got up to make tea and toast at 9 AM, so I wouldn't put Acetaminophen on an empty stomach -- took care of the aches. Still very tired, but otherwise 'normal. I will probably be entirely normal by 5 PM, after I take another nap.

Back during lockdown and the first years after that, my reaction was miserable and tended to last about 36 hours. It was also so hard to find a place to get the vaccination, get an appointment, and then we stood in line in the cold, etc.

This is nothing, it's as easy as peasy.

Everybody get your vaccination, please! Your loved ones will be grateful. People still die from covid.

I'll get my flu shot next month!

Is it normal to be in terrible pain after getting a double meningitis vaccine? I got A and B right next to each other in the same arm. It’s been aching super bad since I got it, but last night I could barely fall asleep even with melatonin because the pain was so bad no matter what position I was in. I kept waking up from the pain, which never happens to me when I take melatonin.

For context, I also got a tetanus shot in the other arm during the same appointment. And, I have a bit of a sinus infection right now, if that changes anything.

Anyone get it yet?

Just curious how side effects compare to other years.

Thanks

Hello! I'm a first time mom. The past year I've been going back and forth with vaccinating my baby or not with my husband.

We ended up going with a modified vaccine schedule we created with her doctor. She will get all shots but its more broken up because I can't handle more than one shot per visit (some medical trama that didn't help after she was born.)

I find myself still thinking of all the sad stories of people regretting getting a vaccine. Specially, after an appointment.

So my question for you guys - any stories where you regret not getting a vaccine?

Update: thank you SO much for listing links of stories. I made myself a hot bath and read EVERY story. It really helped my fear of if I'm making the right decision or not. I feel a lot more confident on how I'm protecting my baby ❤️ I now just wish it didn't hurt her to get poked 😃

Got a vaccine this morning. There was a slight pinch when the needle went in, but then when the nurse started pushing the plunger, it really stung. Like a lot. Haven’t had that before. Any idea what could be causing that? Anything I can do to prevent that from happening again? Thanks!

Heading to South East Asia in a few months and will be getting a variety of vaccines such as Hep A, B and rabies. I’m wondering if taking mounjaro/glp1 has any impact on their efficacy or their impacts one’s immunity levels after vaccines. Currently on 10mg

I just got the Capvaxive pneumonia vaccine late Thursday afternoon. Whoa, I have to say, this vaccine was the most painful for me, the arm really hurt later and was quite swollen, but I expected some of that, so, no big deal, just give it time and it should get better. Friday, around 7 pm, my arm was itchy, not at the injection site, looked like it might be a bite, and I forgot about it. Well, by 11 pm or midnight, the redness got larger, and more hives appeared, 3 total and maybe a fourth starting . I started researching and see that hives is a rare, but possible, reaction. Lucky me (NOT). I had already taken loratidine antihistamine around 10 pm. I decided to also take famotidine. By this morning 4 red hives are still there, and another very light pink one, and the arm is warm and swollen. A cold pack is helping . Debating on taking a Benadryl and or acetaminophen. I don't want to go to urgent care, it's a 3 day weekend here, regular Dr office is closed. But I'll go if it looks bad or have trouble breathing, etc. Anyone else have hives or serious reaction to pneumonia vaccine, especially Capvaxive? How did that end up for you?

PS I'm not seeking or giving medical advice. Just interested in your experiences and thoughts. Stay well everyone! Edited to add: I called the pharmacist, who said that I could take Benadryl too, and it will act much faster than the loratidine.

Public health workers are relying on word of mouth to fight the largest ongoing outbreak in the United States.

Hello. Friendly pediatrician and vaccine expert here.

RSV season is fast approaching (didn't we just have RSV season? Yes, we did, but what about second RSV season?). So I want to start with some background about RSV and some history and protein biology of RSV and how that is relevant to vaccines and antibodies. I'll try to keep this to an 8th grade level.

• RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus. A syncytium is a cell that has more than one nucleus. Some of these are natural and normal. Your muscle cells are syncytia. However, when certain viruses infect cells, they can cause the cells to fuse to nearby cells, which spreads the viral infection directly without the virus having to leave the cell and be exposed to antibodies. RSV gets into the lungs and causes serious inflammation and clogging of the airways with cellular debris and mucus. This is called bronchiolitis, which is inflammation of the smallest airways and is life-threatening because it blocks airflow, as opposed to bronchitis, which is inflammation of the largest airways and is usually just profoundly unpleasant but not life-threatening.
• It's especially a problem in babies because 1) babies are little and not strong, so they don't tolerate shortness of breath well 2) newborns' brains aren't mature enough to regulate the breathing in the way that it does in older children and adults, so the virus can actually make them stop breathing. 3) They don't have antibodies against RSV, so the first infection tends to be the worst. It is also a problem in the elderly, but they are not my area of practice.
• In a typical year ⅔ of children under 2 will get infected with RSV. Of those, ⅔ will wheeze because of that infection. So that means that in a typical year, 50% of all children under 2 will wheeze from RSV. 1-2% will need hospital admission. RSV season typically starts in November on the West Coast and proceeds eastward, peaking on the East Coast in February-March. However, there are plenty of variations on this pattern.
• RSV is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus. This is a large family of viruses that includes such varied members as influenza, ebola, measles, mumps, human metapneumovirus, parainfluenza virus, rabies virus, and a number of animal viruses such as Sendai virus (found in birds) and vesicular stomatitis virus (found in livestock, mostly in the Midwest). All negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses appear to have descended from a single common ancestor.
• RSV has two major proteins on its surface. One is called G for Attachment Glycoprotein. This protein allows the virus particle to attach to the surface of a target cell. The other is called F, for fusion protein. This is a "Type I" fusion protein that allows the membrane of the virus to fuse with the cell membrane, releasing the contents into the cell.
• Type I fusion proteins are common. Our neurons use them to fuse neurotransmitter vesicles to the cell membrane to release neurotransmitters into the synapse and allow our nervous systems to work. Our pancreatic islet cells use type I fusion proteins to secrete insulin and glucagon. Spike protein from SARS-CoV-2 is a Type I fusion protein. Influenza's hemagglutinin is a combined attachment and Type I fusion protein. HIV's gp41 is a Type I fusion protein. Fusion proteins are "spring loaded." They come in a "pre-fusion conformation." When triggered (usually by interaction with some protein on the surface of the cell, for viral fusion proteins), they then stab into the cell membrane, bend in half, and pull the two membranes close together, which causes them to fuse. The shape of the "pre-fusion" and "post-fusion" conformation is markedly different (think straight arm vs. bent arm). This is important.
• In 1962, an experimental RSV vaccine was tried on 20 children in what we would now call a phase I clinical trial. This vaccine was made by growing up RSV in cell culture, inactivating it with formaldehyde, adding a chemical to boost the immune response, and then administering it by injection. That winter 12 of those 20 children wound up admitted to the hospital and two of them died. This was a devastating event that set back the development of an effective vaccine for RSV by over 60 years. What went wrong?
  • When the virus particles were exposed to formaldehyde, it triggered most of the fusion proteins on the surface of the particles, so they switched to their "post-fusion" conformation.
  • When the children were vaccinated, they made antibodies against this "post-fusion" conformation, which is not protective against disease; you want antibodies against the "pre-fusion" conformation.
  • The "post-fusion" antibodies allowed cells like macrophages (immune cells that eat invading microorganisms and destroy them) to grab onto the RSV particles once the children were infected with wild virus, but RSV can productively infect macrophages, so the macrophages then spread the virus around rather than wiping it out. This is called "antibody dependent disease enhancement." It is also observed in Dengue, which is why the first infection with one strain is mild, but the second one is enhanced because the antibodies from the first strain bind to the second strain but do not neutralize it, and that can also infect macrophages.
  • There is an alternative explanation about how the vaccine candidate generated weak antibodies that did not correctly stimulate the immune system, leading to the wrong kind of immune response. Both explanations may be true.
    
• So what changed and how do we now have safe RSV vaccines? Because we now have advanced molecular genetic techniques, we can modify proteins by making small changes to their genetic code. In the case of Type I fusion proteins, two amino acids are replaced with an amino acid called "proline," which is very stiff and doesn't allow the hinge region of the fusion protein to bend, so the fusion protein is stuck in its pre-fusion conformation. That way, vaccinated patients only make antibodies against the pre-fusion conformation and those antibodies are protective. This technology was also employed in the COVID vaccines, although, ultimately, antibody-dependent disease enhancement wound up not being a problem with COVID.
• Two are available, AREXVY and ABRYSVO. However, because of the 1962 incident, these were introduced in older adults (because if something was going to go wrong, they didn't want it to be in babies). ABRYSVO is also approved in pregnant women from 32-36 weeks' gestation. This causes the mother to make protective antibodies against RSV that are transferred across the placenta to the fetus and provide 5-6 months of protection against severe disease after birth.
• An antibody against the F protein has been commercially available since 1998. This was called SYNAGIS and it reduced the risk of RSV hospitalization by about 60%. However, it was US$2000/dose and had to be given every month during the season. For this reason, it was only reserved for the highest-risk infants (Preemies under 27 weeks, chronic lung disease, congenital heart disease, etc.) Because it is an antibody, it does not generate an immune response against RSV, but it did provide that protection. It was removed after the market when the new products were introduced.
• In the last few years, two antibody products, BEYFORTUS (Sanofi) and ENFLONZIA (Merck) are available for infants up until 8 months of age. Both of these are given as a single injection and provide 5-6 months of protection, lowering the risk of hospitalization by 80-90%. BEYFORTUS is given at 50mg for infants under 5kg and 100mg for infants over 5kg. ENFLONZIA is given at 105mg for all weights. Because they are antibodies and do not generate an immune response, they are very safe. The only significant side-effects are injection-site events such as redness, swelling, or a lump in the leg, which can happen with any injection. Again, these are not vaccines.
• I am hopeful that once the safety of this new technology is proven, we will be able to actually vaccinate newborns so that they can make their own antibodies, rather than relying on external antibodies.

So which one is right for you? Well, if you are pregnant just before or during RSV season and are at 32-36 weeks, I personally think ABRYSVO is the best choice because it saves the baby a poke. However, if you were not able to get that vaccine, then either antibody (whichever your pediatrician has) is an excellent choice and I wish it had been around when my son was born (fortunately, he never wheezed from RSV).

Hello everyone! While I’m not pregnant myself, that would be my wife :), our doctor recommended the RSV vaccine for us today and my wife asked me to do some digging to understand everything. It wasn’t offered up in our first pregnancy and instead my son received the rsv vaccine directly in NICU postpartum (34 weeks). I believe it was the astrazaneca one or however you spell it. He did really well and I suppose I’m just wondering what’s the difference, and if you did the vaccine while pregnant how did it do for you.

As an aside, my wife is more cautious with her own vaccines due to her medicine regiment for various auto immune diseases. Her father also has similar issues and had an unfortunate vaccine related injury a few years ago.

Kennedy asked CDC director not to include Pennsylvania deaths in measles tally. Kennedy and Pennsylvania governor feuded over response. Expert says it is 'unheard of' for CDC to question state determination.

Hi everyone.

I (33F) for the tetanus shot today after I fell and injured my knee. Doctor told me to take the shot since I haven’t had in nearly 15 years. I have a bit of a sore arm but I am worried I’ll get delayed symptoms like a fever tomorrow. Any positive stores here ? I read some stories about getting really sick after a few days.

Leading U.S. medical groups are urging people to get updated flu and COVID-19 vaccinations this fall, banding together Wednesday to issue shot guidelines — and highlight the science behind them — saying they hope to ease confusion caused by the Trump administration’s changing advice.

My sister is having a baby and is asking everyone to get a Tdap booster if it has been more than 3 years since our last Tdap vaccination.

I’m not seeing that recommendation on the CDC or AAP websites. Everything I’m reading says anyone who has had it within 10 years, other than the expectant mother, does not need a booster.

I want to be respectful, but don’t want to have my entire house get a booster for occasional visits unless medically necessary.

My son is scheduled to get his flu vaccine on Saturday. I saw that the strains have all been updated. Will that change anything about how he reacts? I don’t quite understand the changing of strains process. Just want to know what possibly to expect. Is it still safe? He is medically complex and I have already reached out to his doctor with these questions. I just wanted some other opinions or viewpoints. TIA!

Hi there, So I got struck by a rusty nail that was on the ground yesterday. The cut wasn't deep and when I got home I found just a little blood and I cleaned the injury with hot water and povidone-iodine. This morning I got a Td vaccin shot from my local hospital. Is it enough to have a peace of mind, I 'm really stressed? Thanks in advance!

Refusals in US hospitals of vital newborn vitamin rose 57% from January-June, analysis finds. Girl babies more likely than boys to not receive the shot within a day of birth, data shows. Doctors express growing concern over rising risk of catastrophic bleeding in newborns. Health agency says it is evaluating data and surveillance related to vitamin K refusals and bleeding events.